Aurora
by Cinematronix
Summary: She was born before the storm, her carrier slaughtered by its source, her home taken by its fire and savageness. but without it, she wouldn't have found her family, old and new.
1. Unus

It was a good day, not as harsh as the past groon had been. Opponents went down, crowd was cheering, Sunny was pissed about his scratched paint which took only a joor to fix. A silver alt flew down the street with gold hot on its tail, engines roaring as the two weaved past the few alts on the street and earning the blaring of unhappy horns.

What a great day in the lower levels of Kaon. Where the star reflects off the obsidian towers in the distance of upper Kaon. Yowling cybercats chasing whatever glitchmice they can find under buildings, and squealing youngling's playing in the streets.

 _Might as well amuse them for a moment._

In a flash of silver, Sideswipe transformed onto his wheeled pedes, catching the youngling's attention and when Sunstreaker shot by, said wheeled pede slammed into and bounced off a shiny golden bumper that drew a snarl from said bumper which split apart and disappeared into the form of his brother. The giggles from the youngling's drew his attention though.

There were three in total, and all had poor quality plating but that was expected for youngling's in any poor city, not just Kaon.

"Hey there, youngling's." Sideswipe smiled when their optics brightened. They were red, but one youngling's weremuch paler then the other two.

The tallest youngling seemed to be the braver of the other two and stepped forward from behind them.

"You are the gladiator twins, yeah?" Raspy for a youngling's voice. Sunny snorted behind him from the feelings he got through their twin bond. "I saw your battle yesterday!"-"Watched through my digits, but you were awesome!"-"He didn't stand a chance." They piped up at once which caused him to laugh. "You're creators didn't have a problem with that?" Their optics brightened even more it seemed. Not everyday their little sparks got to talk to gladiators. Their heads shook no.

"What're your designations half-pints?" Sunny had kneeled next to him on the empty sidewalk and decided to amuse them with him, seems he had a spot in his spark for youngling's after all.

They must be asked stuff like this often because they seemed to get into a mental line and didn't shout out at once.

The first mechling was Sol, his dull armor having a dusty yellow and dark black protoform to it which hence to his name. Second there was the mechling with the grey plating and red accents whose destination was Axle. Then there was the femmeling, whose plating showed that her creators had enough to take relative care of a sparkling, deep black plating and silvery blue protoform, with wheeled pedes that rocked back and forth to keep her balance.

"Her Carrier hasn't designated her." Sol explained when she didn't speak. "But we call her Bis. A short mix of boring and miss." 'Bis' gave him a glare and bared pointy little denta.

It was to be expected for some carriers to not name their creations until they went into their second frame, so to not get so attached if the sparkling were to not survive in Kaon's harsh environment and people.

 _She looks familiar to me._ Sideswipe voiced over his bond with Sunstreaker.

 _Yeah, I see it too._ Was the thoughtful reply.

"Well the miss is very correct mechling but I don't see boring in those optics." The femmeling gave a shy smile.

"Well it's best we better be off kids, got places to be. You stay safe now." The youngling's nodded their heads and skipped off back to their game Knucklebones, taking turns tossing a small piece of metal and picking up small objects with the time the metal is in the air.

Sunstreaker grunted before transforming nd shooting off down the street, his twin right behind him.

—- _break_ —-

Bis grinned as she caught the star shaped pieces of metal on the back of her servo. "Beat you, fess up." Sol groaned and Axle just grinned. "Fine, you win, Bissy." 'Bissy' harrumphed and crossed her arms.

"You watching the matches tonight? I heard Megatronus is up against a spark-eater." Axle clicked his fingers together excitedly as they walked down the sidewalk to where their creators lived.

"Spark-eaters don't exist, you idiot. And Megs don't fight tonight, he fights tomorrow morning." Sol punched Axle's arm, who just laughed while rubbing the spot where he got hit.

"They do too, if they didn't how is Megatronus fightin' one?." Axle retorted,only for him to trip and almost land flat on his faceplate when Bis stuck out a pede.

"Clearly the arena would say he's fighting a Spark-eater to get fund out of tickets, but then it turns out he's fighting a giant cyberfu." All three of them laughed of the idea of a mech like Megatronus fighting an over large deer.

As they rounded the corner of the last block, Axle and Sol said goodbye to Bis and ran towards the old door to the apartment complex that they and their creators lived in.

The small femme huffed a small vent before turning around and wheeling back the way they came, down to where the star shaped pieces of metal that they had played their game still lay on the sidewalk.

Bis looked down at them, giving one a small nudge with her wheel before bending down and picking them up, putting the five stars into a pocket in her armor. A short glance over her shoulder before she wheeled off down the street which became covered in shadows as the star sank below the horizon.

She had learned how to travel at this time of cycle, when the Empties came out to scavenge around where they wouldn't be able to during the solar cycle. She could hear rustling in the alleys already.

Ahead, lay The Champions Colosseum, where gladiators like the twins and Megatronus fought on ornly rotations. The front was made of grand pillars of polished metal, the top adorned with the statues of league champions, all with their helms held proud. Bis stopped for a moment to look at the works of art. She knew that soon Megatronus would have his own statue up there soon, as he only had a few more battles before he successfully won a the league as champion.

Bis continued round the massive stadium, past the entrance and ticket stations, the vending stations already closed as the daily battles had already ended. The back of the stadium were the gladiators barracks, separated by rank and league. Bis was heading towards the rank 1, League Ignis.

She stayed close to the high walls, an occasional hand trailing against the metal and sometimes organic stone. The Colosseum had been built in the Golden Age, where gladiators would fight against beasts found in the wilds of Cybertron and sometimes each other to find the best of the best.

Only a few gladiators were tactile. Being good opponents for their agility and tactics while most mechs liked to throw their weight around and rely on their fists. Kind of how the twins are champions, two of them but with Sunstreaker being the strength and Sideswipe the speed.

Bis got to the side wall of the section of barracks she was looking for. Vents lined the bottom of the wall, long and narrow that steam occasionally wafted out of. Counting the vents down, the black femmeling stopped at the seventh vent. Crouching down and gripping the bars, Bis chirped into the room the vent lead to, so dark she couldn't see inside. A small croon answered her call and she dropped to all fours and shimmied through the thick bars the lined the opening.

When she slipped past the bars to rest on the small ledge of the wall, a clawed hand held itself out and Bis didn't hesitate to drop onto it, hugging the long talons and looking up to her holder with shining rose gold optics.

Matching, if somewhat more red, glowed back and the croon sounded again as she was held against a warm chassis, the spark behind the thick armor beating in time with hers. It was hard to see in the dank room, but Bis could see with her spark the battle worn femme holding her. She knew of the claw marks that marred the reinforced metal walls, the parts and shapes on the femmes frame that didn't belong on a vehicle mode, most matching the shapes on her own frame that would mature with her upgrades to her t-cog.

The femme smiled sadly at the small frame that curled against her own, felt its tiny sparkbeat through its thin plating that she cleaned as good as she could to keep the form as healthy as she could. A vibrating croon echoed through her chest as she hummed to the sparkling she cradled, smiling when its optics shuddered and its systems slowed in recharge. She sat on the lone and bare berth of the room that she considered her prison, the quiet echoes of the others filtering through the sealed door that separated her from all the others that were forced to fight to the death.

Yet she still smiled to the sparkling she held, which held such innocence she couldn't imagine.

"Rest, My sparkling. We will see each other in the morning."

But after, she didn't know.


	2. Duo

It was the roaring of blood crazed crowds that woke the small sparkling from its recharge. Foggy golden pink optics peeped open, taking in its surroundings. Box shaped room with tall ceilings, made of rusty metal with suspicious pale blue stains on the walls and floor. The room looked cold and musty, but she was surrounded by warmth, she purred snuggling into the metal she was surrounded by that gave off the heat.

A soothing rumble come from the chassis at her back and she looked up, face a few feet away from a pointed snout. Instead of fear like a normal bot or youngling would have to such a sight; sharp teeth attached to said snout, large olfactory inputs that flared with every intake. But Bis didn't feel fear at all with the beast that held her safely, that was warm, and made soothing sounds.

Little clawed black hands reached out and hugged the snout, her frame barely big enough to cover the angled front of the long, narrow face. Bis grinned up at the beast whose optics matched her own. Her little spark pulsed at the would she felt connected to and giggled when it pulsed a ticklish feeling back.

"Carrier!"

Dinobots were created in the golden age in Tarn, in the Scientific research facility that is now just ruins as most of Tarn is currently. Not many survived but their genes managed to get out but the possibility of having their dual T-cog and beast mode is almost as rare as split spark twins. Bis' Carrier is one of those beings.

Hot air huffed from her nose and she gently pinched her creations scruff bar between her sharp teeth and the narrow head raised, having such a large form can be very helpful for the young carrier with protecting her little brightspark.

Bis gave a small squeal when she was lifted high off the ground and placed on the solid back of the bipedal creature, tucking her body instinctively into the small crevice between two large plates on her carriers neck and magnetize get her hands to the plate above her to lock herself in place.

There was a loud 'BANG' from outside of the dented and scorched door and the plating covering Bis flattened, protectively covering her frame as shouting echoed under the door. A low hiss came from carrier as she spread her taloned pedes apart and lowered her head as the stomping of heavy pedes came closer to the door.

The stomps came to a stop at the door.

Rose gold optics narrowed at the door.

The jangling of manual keys filtered through with the click of one turning the multiple locks that all the pits doors had installed.

The door slowly creaked open, the bronze lights from outside spilling in like molten copper as a helm peeked in, bright green optics locking onto the beast in the middle of the room before scanning the rest of the space. Then the door opened entirely.

"Come on out Scatterflare, it be time to start the cycle. Damn glitches already have made mine terrible." The mech was stout, with moldy plaiting that was a few shades darker than his optics.

The plating covering Bis relaxed a fraction with a small hiss of pressurized air.

"Contus, was it the twins again?" Scatterflare rumbled, large jaw shifting with her voice box. She stepped out through the door from behind the mech and looked down the hall that was lined with matching doors.

"How'd you guess?" He grumbled and a snort as he skipped a few steps to catch up to the dinobot that hadn't waited for him. Scatterflare just huffed.

At the end of the hall was an intersection, which Contus went a separate way to get back to his duties as the manager for all the weapons that the pits contained, while Scatterflare went towards the main hangar which was where all the gladiators went to hang round, place bets, or pick fights. The room was only mildly filled as it was only new-cycle but soon it would fill.

Scatter did a quick count around the room. Scabbard was in his usual brooding place in the darkest corner of the room sharpening his sword, a couple of mechs were standing at the round table playing an intense game of credit sweep, the Twins were sitting at the booth near the back, and here and there a few mechs who weren't popular enough for her to recognize. What surprised her was that Megatronus had actually decided to grant the rec room with his presence and was watching the credit sweep match every now and then with an amused look on his silver faceplates as he typed on a dusty data pad.

Quickly flitting to the bond with her creation who was tucked safely under her plating in recharge, she made up her mind.

She stepped into the room which garnered the attention of a few sweep players, who she hissed at with her large toes clicking against the metal floor which garnered a few chuckles when a couple of newbies gawked.

"Get used to it you penny afts!" One of the sweep players crowed and they all laughed while the newbies glared.

Scatter snarled before transforming, taking care to make sure her bitlit ended up in the sparkling hold in her chest and landing on her wheeled pedes which rocked back and forth.

"All hail the Pit Queen!" Sideswipe called while mock bowing from his seat while his brother just rolled his eyes.

"Shut up you glitched mechling!" Scatterflare retorted and just curled her lip when a bunch of whistles and calls went up around the room.

"Leave the femme be mechs, she could beat your scrawny hides into the pit floors." Megatronus spoke up, nodding to said femme when she took the seat across from him. The mechs playing sweep made disappointed sounds but went back to their game and all the other mechs went back to their business.

Scatterflare glared at the still looking mechs before giving the pad in the silver mechs clawed servo a doubting look. "Your still messing with that slag, aren't you?" She asked the current champion, who looked up with dark navy optics.

"Did you expect me not to? Cybertron needs change and I'm not going to let the Senate keep this up. If no one will do something then I gladly will." He finished quietly as to not draw anymore attention to his political side.

She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the wall behind her, who would have thought a pit mech to be so political. She gave a small smile.

"You impress me, i'll give you that but it doesn't mean i think you'll actually get enough followers when the majority of Cybertron is in the upper caste." He nodded, having most likely told himself that in the beginning.

"That is true, but everyone else are either warframes or preprogrammed builds used in the mining ops." He shrugged his massive shoulders and continued on his datapad.

Scatterflare thought about that for a moment before fixing her comrade with a 'look'.

"Your going to start a war." She stated quietly, and felt her point proven when Megatronus didn't react to the accusation.

"You are a smart one, I'll give you that." He murmured as he continued to type what was most likely a speech on his old data pad. The dark patterned femme allowed the small change of subject as politics was a negativity on the mind in some cases.

"I have to be as a femme of my status." She said crisply while the black arms covering her chassis shifted into a more defensive position.

Megatronus caught the subtle movement and gave a small quirk of the lips.

"How old, now?" Megatronus was about the only mech that knew of Scatterflare's bitlet, and Soundwave, as they helped cover her back during the last stages of carrying and kept her out of the arena. When he first found out (most likely from the help of Sounwave) he had threatened to take her down to the medbay to have it extinguished, but eventually changed his mind when Scatter begged for it to just have a chance.

"Two vorns into her half-frame. Already figured out how to climb out through the bars." She gave a small chuckle from the memory. Her little fem had been on her back and snuck off onto the ledge and was out before she realized, she would have been more mad but gave up when with fem came back with an apology and a half filled cube of midgrade she had scavenged up.

"I'm guessing she goes out there when you can't watch her?" Megatronus asked, slightly amazed that the sparkling was already in its half frame. Didn't seem that long ago he had one optic on the carrier and the other on the arena for almost a dozen megacycles.

"She plays with two mechlings who live in the midcenter during the lightcycle, but as soon as the star goes down she comes straight home." Scatterflare had learned about the two when her bitty had told her about her two new friends she made while making game pieces.

"Soundwave has most likely kept on optic on her while he does his surveillance." His friend did seem to know everything that happened in Kaon down to the klick.

"I would be surprised if he hadn't. Mech sees everything." Sometimes it felt like an invasion on her personal life with that mech. Megatronus nodded in agreement before shutting off his data pad and subspacing it.

"I am going to go get some energon, care to join?" he had stood up and held out his arm politely. Scatterflare rolled her ruby gold optics before standing herself and threading her servo over his elbow joint and letting him lead her out of the room.

~.~.~

"I got it." Sideswipe leaned over the narrow table when his brother beckoned him over.

"The little femmeling, she's like a literal mini Scatterflare." Sunstreaker muttered so no bot would overhear. The gossip mill would light on fire if they found out a femme gladiator, one of the champions even, had a sparkling.

Sideswipe flicked his optics to where the femme was walking out with Megatronus and nodded towards his brother. "Who knows, but I definitely see some resemblance."

"Could it be dinobot?" The golden twin went back to his data pad and adjusted his grip on the stylus. He switched programs and started to do a rough sketch. A few smaller shapes here and there in and round the larger shapes before taking a darker color selected and adding details.

"Who knows, heard it can be as rare as us, so maybe." Sideswipe shrugged and leaned over more so he could see what his brother was sketching. Huffing a small laugh when he saw the basic shapes of a youngling that had the looks of a familiar gladiator.

Who knew what else could happen to their miserable hides that got them thinking


End file.
